


While there, they attempted to fit in by adopting the garb of the monks, including a large stovepipe hat. When the Byzantine Empire invaded Greece, Greek chefs fled to nearby monasteries for protection. She cites another origin story that dates back to circa 146 BCE, long before the French adopted the hats. In her book Passion of a Foodie, author Heidemarie Vos dispels the notion that hats were used solely to keep a chef’s hair out of his face. Dark hats can give a more polished appearance while a chef works in front of guests when they don’t have the time to don a fresh hat. Occasional spills and stains are inevitable in kitchen environments, but it’s difficult to switch hats in the middle of service. Today, some kitchens choose to wear dark colored hats for that very same reason, especially if the chefs are working in an open kitchen. White is the easiest color for determining whether an object is dirty or clean, rather than dark colors which can mask stains. The reason chefs’ hats and the rest of chefs’ uniforms are traditionally white is to indicate cleanliness in the kitchen. According to one origin story, King Henry VIII supposedly beheaded a chef after finding a hair in his meal, so all the chefs after him were ordered to wear a hat while cooking. One of the main theories is that the chef’s hat came about as a way to keep hair out of food and maintain hygiene and cleanliness in the kitchen. However, there are a number of possible stories explaining how the chef’s hat first emerged and how it evolved over time. Marie Antoine-Carême, an early pioneer of the grande cuisine cooking style, is widely credited with creating the standard chef’s hat that we know today. While this word has been used for thousands of years to refer to any brimless hat, the French popularized using “toque” or “toque blanche” to refer to a white chef’s hat. The traditional tall, white, pleated chef’s hat is officially referred to as a toque, which is the Arabic word for hat.

The History and Significance of the Chef’s Toque Learn how the traditional chef’s hat has evolved over time, and how it’s used today. But did you know that the type of hat a chef wears can tell you a lot about their role? Throughout history, chef hats have indicated factors such as title, rank in the kitchen, and even their level of expertise. In addition to the multiple figurative hats they wear, chefs are also typically required to wear a physical hat for sanitation purposes. Chefs wear a number of different hats, often acting not only as a cook, but also juggling the responsibilities of an accountant, a kitchen manager, and more!
